Collect, Readings and Prayers for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

Collect

God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit

upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:

grant that your people may be fervent

in the fellowship of the gospel

that, always abiding in you,

they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Readings

Exodus 14:19-31

¹⁹ The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. ²⁰ It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night,  and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. ²² The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. ²⁴ At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army,  and threw the Egyptian army into panic. ²⁵ He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’

The Pursuers Drowned

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.’ ²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. ²⁹ But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

³⁰ Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

OR

Genesis 50:15-21

Joseph Forgives His Brothers

¹⁵ Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, ‘What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?’ ¹⁶ So they approached Joseph, saying, ‘Your father gave this instruction before he died, ¹⁷ “Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.” Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.’ Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, ‘We are here as your slaves.’ ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. ²¹ So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.’ In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

Romans 14:1-12

Do Not Judge Another

14 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. ² Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³ Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgement on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord  is able to make them stand.

⁵ Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶ Those who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God.

⁷ We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister?  Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister?  For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written,

‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall give praise to  God.’

¹² So then, each of us will be accountable to God

Matthew 18:21-35

Forgiveness

²¹ Peter came and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ ²² Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

²³ ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; ²⁵ and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” ²⁹ Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” ³⁰ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. ³² Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” ³⁴ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. ³⁵ So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’

Prayers

Dear Lord, we offer you our prayers which stem from our love for you and our love and concern for those we love and for the people of the world.

• Lord God Almighty,
  You are the one who sees me in both my sorrow and my joy.
  You know the quiet ache and the unspoken hurt
  that tries to dim the light within me.
  Where sorrow has weighed me down, lift me.
  Where disappointment has dulled my vision, restore me.
  Let your light break forth in my life like morning after a long night.
  Lord, shine on every place where I feel tired, uncertain or discouraged.
  Let your joy return to me – steady, gentle and renewing.
  Because your glory has come,
  I choose to rise.
  I choose to shine – not by my own power,
  but by your Spirit working in me.
  Thank you for turning my mourning into dancing,
  my tears into testimony,
  and my sorrow into a radiant joy.
  Let my life be a light that cannot be hidden. Amen.

Leonora Wassell, Methodist Women in Britain

• Lord God, when the Church joins together, we can show people a much fuller picture of Jesus and His Kingdom. We pray for your church, and the churches in our local community, and ask that there will be a growing desire to get together and to reach out to others. We give you thanks for those who come up with fresh ways of making your name known to the wider community and for those who work so hard to make fellowship and fund-raising events so pleasurable and financially successful. Amen

• Faithful God, we need your forgiveness, constantly renewing our lives, freeing us to be a people of faith, hope and love made whole by your grace. We pray for those struggling to forgive others; people who have had great wrongs done to them or to those they love.

We pray for those who cannot forgive themselves; people who cannot live with the knowledge of what they have said or done. We pray for those in desperate need of forgiveness; people torn apart by guilt or regret, their lives in need of rebuilding.

Gracious God, at the start of this new week, we bring before you our daily work, our families, and our neighbours. Give us grace to forgive others as we have been forgiven, letting go of grudges and bitterness. Show us practical steps to show integrity, consistency, and love in our homes and workplaces. Loving God, help us to forgive from our hearts. Amen

• Loving Lord, we pray for our broken and fractured world. We lift up places torn apart by war, violence, and oppression.  With the conflict between the US and Iran in the Gulf intensifying in recent days, bombardment by drones in Ukraine increasing and the condemnation of Israel for its growing attempts to displace Palestinians from the lands forming the West Bank, Creator God, we pray not only for the victims but for the perpetrators of evil and violence in our world; for all governments which run on corruption and fear and whose focus is on growing their power.   We pray for a change of heart and attitude, an awakening to a better way of living, and the courage to reject wrong principles and to seek meaningful and lasting peace.  Bring wise leaders and peacemakers to the negotiating tables. Comfort the innocent who suffer in conflict, and guide us to care for the poor and vulnerable. Amen

• In our own country Lord, we acknowledge the stark divisions between people of different cultures and different political persuasions, the polarisation of views, increasing tensions and expressions of hate. Protect the vulnerable Lord and give wisdom to our political leaders and   our police that they may act with justice and fairness but with decisiveness as they deal with those who manifest extremist views and behaviour, on either end of the spectrum.  Amen

• We pray for all those held in captivity, prisoners and oppressed; for justice, compassion and understanding; for those whose role is to care for prisoners

For all those weighed down by poverty and insecurity in their daily lives; for those struggling with rising prices and worries about fuel bills; for those sacrificing themselves to feed children and families

For those providing support and comfort to those living in poverty; for our foodbanks as they face rising demand; for all charities and churches dedicating themselves to supporting those in need

For those living in poverty of spirit, the unloved, lonely, neglected and overlooked in our society; for helping hands to reach out to them, for kind words and listening ears

For ourselves that we may be generous in our love, in our giving, in our time, and in our prayers for all those for whom life is hard. Amen

• At this season of the year when the church celebrates creation, we acknowledge Lord God, that You have created the universe through Christ, your eternal Word, and have blessed all creation in the making of the earth.

    We pray for the world
that we may share and conserve its resources,
and live in reverence for all creation
    and in harmony with one another.

    You have given humanity an abundant home,
a land of streams and springs, wheat and barley,
vines and oil and honey.
Yet we have made by sin a world of suffering and sorrow.

    We pray for those who bear the weight of affliction….
that together we may come to share
in the life of your wholeness and plenty.

In Christ you call us to a new way of life,
loving our neighbours before ourselves.

      Help us to treat with care and respect this our common home….
as we live in hope and anticipation of the world as it will be
when your kingdom comes and your will is done. Amen

• A prayer on Education Sunday

We thank you for our local schools and pray that your Holy Spirit will move throughout them so that they are places of peace and joy. Give the teachers and staff the skills they need to do their jobs well and give them extra energy when they need it. Help all the children to listen carefully, concentrate and understand. Be with those children especially who need extra support or struggle to keep on track. Send your Holy Spirit over the playground may it be a place of laughter and fun, a place where no one is left out and children are kind to each other. Protect our children from harm and give wisdom to those who manage and make decisions. Amen

• Merciful Father, we pray for all who bear the cross of ill-health, physical pain, or long-term sickness. Bring your healing touch to body, mind, and spirit. We name before you, those known to us who are in special need of your comfort... Give patience and strength to caregivers and medical staff.  We remember too those who have died and whose anniversaries fall around this time. Thank you for your promise of eternal life. Comfort those who mourn and weep today, wrapping them in the assurance of your unfailing love. Amen

• Faithful God, at the start of this new week, help us to be an example to others and show us the practical steps we need to take to develop consistency and integrity in all that we do in our lives. Amen